Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1887-07-02

Yale won laurels from Harvard on the
Thames and crossed the line first after one
of the prettiest contests ever seen on the riv-
er. Both crews pulled in splendid form, and
for the first two miles the race was nip and
tuck and victory belonged to either. Yale
slowly but deliberately forged ahead and won
by about five boat lengths amidst the deaf
ening shrieks of whistles, the booming of
cannon and hoarse shout of the thousands
of voices. The crews at the finish were rather
wearied, that of the Harvard especially.
Gill of the Yales tainted at
the expiration of the last stroke that brought
honor to Yale and caused rejoicings to the
blue all over the country. With the excep-
ton of him alone the men on the Yale crew
were perfectly fresh, but with the Harvards
it was far different. The strain of the four
miles had shown itself early and at the finish
the whole eight men were overcome with
exhaustion. The winning crew was awarded
the flag and rowed leisurely back to their
launch to receive the congratulations of their
admiring friends. The race which Yale had
worked hard for was hers and victory had
perched once more upon her banners.
All this morning the town was being filed
up with the outpourings of each arriving
train, and with the arrival of the special of
| twenty-four cars from New Haven the town
| was overcrowded and New London was as
witness to the biggest crowd that ever
sembled in the country TO see boat race of
| any kind. Every point of vantage for seeing
| the race was eagerly seized upon and every
| available inch was occupied. The moving
grand stand of twenty-four cars was the
| earliest to leave the city and it wendell,
heavily loaded, it way slowly along
/ the west bank and took its
stand just at the start. The
Elm City from New Haven, the
Block Island and Ella of Norwich, the Os-
prey, Julia, Cecile and many other crafts of
| New London all proceeded up the harhor,
| some anchoring at the finish, whilst some of
| the smaller ones went further up and fol-
| lowed the crews in their wake. down the
| river. Among the yachts in the harbor
which were particularly decorated was the
| famed Atlanta, owned by Jay Gould. The
Manhansett acted as press boat and closely
| followed the referees boat down the course.
| The Yale launch acted as referees boat.
| The Yale crew was the FIRST to carry their
| shell to the waters edge and they padded
| slowly down to the start. The Harvard
| crew Immediately followed suit and on &C.
| count of the nearer proximity of the Harvard
| quarters to the start they were the first to
| arrive. Very little time was lost by the
| crews and on account of the approaching
darkness, owing to the latenessSof the hour,
they were in haste to get the race started.
AS the crews lined up at the starting flag the
| shouts of the college cheerers, each vieing to
drown the other, could be heard miles
| away.
| Yale started out with SO strokes to the min
ute while Harvard with her slow sweeping
stroke pulled but SO strokes to the minute.
As soon as any difference could be seen it
was at once noticeable that Harvard had
secured the advantage on the start and was
leading by nearly half boat length. This
was the farthest she ever saw water in front
of the Yale crew and she quickly fell behind,
but maintained hard fight to the end.
At the end of the first mile Yale was
slightly ahead and the crew was working
with clock-like precision. At this point
Yale had dropped her stroke to thirty-three
and Harvard had increased hers to thirty
four. After passing the first mile flag both
crews settled down to thirty-two and this
they held for almost mile. The Yale men
of theirs, while in the Harvard weakness
| among the men could easily be detected.
| This was especially the case with No. z,
Brooks. who seemed to be laboring hard to
endure the heavy strain he was being
subjected to. At the mile and half
fac Vale Yves still leading, although she had
not vet placed water between her boat and
that of Harvard's At the two-mile flag
J Yale had secured the boat length and from
thence on the race was in her possession.
Squirt as she might, Harvard could not com
1 pete with that long, clean-cut stroke of the
; Yale, and though she fought bitter fight il
was for nought Yale slowly forged herself
ahead, and beyond the old navy yard she hac
8 secured lead of nearly two boat lengths,
At this point of the race Yale had settled
down and had become accustomed to hel
t thirty-two strokes to the minute, which sb'
{ had taken up in the first half mile OF thu
second and she chung to with hardly chang
| for the rest of the race. She knew
t her power, and every pound of mus
Gle in the boat showed itself in ever.
stroke. Harvard had dropped her stroke IL
| the meantime to 81 AT the half-mile hal
Yale had still farther increased her lead an,
the race was virtually hers. The eight stal